Industrial assets such as pressurized piping and pressure vessels used in the oil and gas sector are commonly subject to corrosion and other degradation. Degradation can become severe enough to compromise the integrity of the asset. In the case of pressure piping and pressure vessels, it is common practice to apply composite wrap repairs to affected areas to avoid shutdowns associated with replacement or removal of the asset. The composite wrap repair is applied to the external surface of the pipe or vessel and can temporarily provide satisfactory integrity of the asset until a permanent solution can be applied.
A typical composite wrap includes fibres reinforced with an epoxy resin. The fibre reinforcements are either carbon or glass. Various epoxy resins are selected based on the overall design conditions and installation temperature of a repair. The wrap repair reinforces the damaged area and also prevents further degradation and/or corrosion.
Once the composite wrap is applied, it can hinder or impede subsequent inspection of the pipe or vessel, and thus quantification of further degradation beneath the composite wrap. Moreover the integrity of the repair itself can be difficult to assess.
There thus always remains room for improvement.